Happy Friday!

Hello everyone,

I'll just start by saying thank you to all the families who came to visit last night! It was great getting to meet everyone and see the students light up as they showed off their hard work so far this year.

We looked at leaves and blending techniques in art yesterday. Students first collected leaves outside, we looked at the different shapes and colours, and then I demonstrated blending techniques with pencil crayons, watercolour paint, and oil pastels. Everyone worked very hard and tried out different techniques. The results were stunning.

ps. one student put the leaves going across my charts at the back of the class...they explained that there had been a very strong wind and the leaves got blown that far....

This morning we had our 5 au quotidien, and then discussed the 6 Learning Skills that appear on the report card. These skills are so important, and many parents/guardians give them higher value than grades. We looked into the definition of each of the 6, and then each group was assigned one to write down what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like (e.g., initiative, looks like starting another task right away after finishing another, so that Mlle doesn't need to remind you that now you should be doing the followup activity). Then, students picked one that they would like to work on immediately. Many chose organization - of their work, desk, and materials. Ask your child which one of the six they chose and why.

For math, students had a special task. They got to design their own vacation, with $5,000 to spend! They needed to get there, have somewhere to sleep, participate in a few activities, and then make it home. Some very interesting points came up during their planning. Some found out just how expensive vacations and flights are (e.g., "$3000 just to go one way to Bora Bora??"), others discovered that they needed to convert money (e.g., euros to CAD), and others found that price depended on when they went. Everyone was adding, subtracting, and multiplying to figure out how much things cost and how much they had left. Here are some students at work:

We will continue a bit on Tuesday, before moving on to the beginning of our Patterning unit.

Have a wonderful long weekend! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm thankful for having such a great class :) And if you're at the Erin Fall Fair on Saturday, I might just see you there!